Shot
by POPpop
Summary: A shooting takes place and some of the gang are witnesses. A piece of Collins' past collides with Collins' present. Crossover with Law & Order. UPDATED WITH SOME CHANGES TO CHAPTER TWO.
1. Chapter 1

**_Yeah so this is written in response to challenges 9 and 25 from Tina's Challenges. Crossover fic. hope you like it. More chapters to come._**

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

"Look, all I'm saying is that it wouldn't kill you to leave the camera at home once in a while."

Mark didn't look up from his filming. "I need all the day traffic footage I can get. Besides you never know when something interesting might happen."

Roger snorted. "Yeah, I guess you're right. The other day I saw this pigeon taking a crap in the street and I thought to myself 'Man, I bet Mark would have loved to have caught that.'"

Mark scowled while Mimi, walking on the other side of Roger, snickered loudly.

"This from the guy who once wrote and performed an entire three verses and a chorus about the adventures of Captain Crunch and his brothers, Hook and Cook," Mark reminded him, focusing his lens on a strolling beat cop.

Mimi shrieked with mirth as Roger's face flooded red. "Hey! We still don't know what Collins put in those cigarettes that night."

"Whatever. We're here."

"Here" was the Life, where they were going to meet the others for lunch before Maureen, Joanne and inevitably Mark headed over to the new "Performance Space", a burned-out, abandoned gymnasium, where Maureen would be rehearsing her latest of protests, called "In the Corner." The show was slated to open in a week, but Maureen insisted on everything being perfect.

As Roger approached the door to pull it open, it was suddenly flung wide and a tall, white man with dark brown hair rushed out, nearly running Mimi over.

"Hey, what the hell?" she protested, but the guy didn't even look at her as he shoved past her and raced away. Hurling an expletive in his direction Mimi stalked into the café, the boys following.

The Life was fairly empty and Maureen and Joanne were seated at a large booth toward the front. The three made their way over and Mimi plopped down, still muttering hotly.

"You okay?" Maureen looked at Roger quizzically who just shrugged.

"Some people are just so rude!" Mimi complained, shedding her coat.

"I know what you mean," Maureen agreed, jerking her head at Joanne. Now it was Mark and Roger's turn to look quizzically at her. The lawyer rolled her eyes.

"Wouldn't let her flirt with the hot, new waitress."

"I asked her a simple question!"

"'Could you please butter my muffin' is not a simple question!"

Maureen opened her mouth angrily, but before she could say anything, a gunshot suddenly rang out through the din. The café went silent for a second and then a couple people began screaming.

The five of them looked at each other, shocked, then they leaped up and ran outside, Mark leading the way. When they saw what was outside, they stopped cold.

A young Hispanic male, dark-skinned with a mustache, lay crumpled and still on the sidewalk on top of a steadily growing puddle of blood. All around people were coming out of shops and restaurants to see what was up. Everyone looked at each other in shock. No one knew where the shot had come from and it seemed that the gunman was in the wind.

Maureen let out a strangled noise. "I know him. I mean, I knew...Antonio. He…he came to a couple of my performances." Mimi made a sound of sympathy, but the others were still too stunned to say anything.

A nearby bystander bent down to check the boy's pulse, just in case. She shook her head sadly and pulled out her cell phone, dialing 911.

As soon as they heard that the police were coming most of the people from the café and on the street scattered. However after a quick check to make sure none of them were carrying any drugs or had committed a crime recently the five friends decided to stay. Maureen insisted. He had been a friend and they had been there. Paramedics arrived along with some beat cops and a Narcotics detective who had been around the corner. They taped off the area forcing the stunned onlookers along with the Bohemians to back off a little. None of them noticed a dark police car pulling up to the sidewalk.

"Let's go people back it up, police coming through." Two men in suits maneuvered through the crowd. Mark moved to let them pass, then suddenly he stopped and gaped at one of them.

"Collins?"

**_Gasp! Reviews give my typing fingers wings!_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey, second chapter here. Hope you like it. And where are my reviews? Come on people, tell me what you think. Like it or hate it, I want to know!**_

_**Disclaimer: What can I say, I'm poor. Even if I owned them I couldn't pay to feed them. Not that I think some of them would eat much. But still.**_

"Collins?"

He didn't stop. Mark hesitated, glancing at the others. They looked just as bewildered. Why was Collins…?

Maureen stepped forward and grabbed his coat sleeve.

"Collins!"

He faltered and looked at her, confused.

"Um, no," he said slowly, narrowing his eyes.

"Ed!" The other man who was with him, a much older guy dressed in a grey suit, stopped and looked back impatiently, "Come on, what's the hold-up?"

"Coming Lennie!" he called back. He turned back to them, warily, "Look, I think you have me confused with someone else…"

"What are you talking about?" Roger asked.

"Yeah, and what is with the suit?" Mimi piped up. "And who is that guy?"

"You been holding out on me, Ed?" Lennie joined him, eying Maureen and Mimi appreciatively. "Friends of yours?"

By now they had the rapt attention of the small crowd of onlookers.

"I have no idea who they are," Ed stated firmly, "Look I could show you my badge…"

Before he could finish his sentence they heard a commotion from the edge of the crowd.

"What is going on here?" A rather strangely-pitched voice rose above the other noise. The crowd parted to let through Angel and…

"_Collins?!" _Mark, Roger, Mimi, Maureen and Joanne felt their jaws drop.

"Thomas?" Ed asked incredulously.

Collins broke into a huge grin. "Well, what d'ya know?"

Lennie scratched his head as he looked back and forth between his partner and Collins. "Oh boy."

Angel, however, lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw Ed. "Hey, dreams really do come true!"

Lennie and Ed's eyes both widened briefly as they got a second look at the bubbly drag queen, then Ed's eyes snapped back to Collins.

"Thomas, is it really you? Man, I haven't seen you in, what, 10 years?"

"12," Collins corrected, pulling Ed into one of his signature, crushing hugs which Ed returned somewhat more reservedly. "And it's Collins," He said pulling away.

"And he is…?" Mimi prompted.

"Oh right! Guys, this is Eddie Green, my half-brother. He…" Just then, Lennie broke in.

"Look, I'm sure it's a great story, and I for one would love to hear about it, but right now we kinda have a murder investigation to get to," he intoned.

"Oh yeah," Ed suddenly remembered why he was there. He turned to Collins. "Look I gotta go, but you wanna grab a bite to eat later?" He fished a card out of his pocket.

"Yeah, sure, here," Collins felt his pockets for something to write with. Ed handed him a piece of paper and he wrote down the loft's number. "I gotta Life Support meeting at 4, but after that I'm free. Call this number and leave a message and someone will pick up."

Ed's investigative mind itched to ask about a million questions, but he knew he'd have to wait until later. They had a lot of catching up to do. Clearly a lot had changed since he had last seen his younger stepbrother, which had been the summer he left for the academy. He took the piece of paper and said good-bye, then went to catch up with Lennie, who had already started questioning the cops who had responded to the call.

After he left, Collins turned to see Mark, Roger, Mimi, Maureen, Joanne, and Angel all looking at him expectantly. He grinned weakly. "Well, this place is obviously out. Chinese then?" They didn't budge. He turned to Angel. She just smiled sadly and gave him a look that said "You are getting way with this one." "Okay, but food first. Then I'll explain." He turned and started off in the direction of a little Chinese place they ate from time to time. The others glanced at each other and then followed.

Lennie looked up when Ed arrived, with the same questions in his eyes. Ed shook his head and gave his partner a "I'll tell you later" look. Right now they needed to focus on the case. The on-call M.E. was still examining the body. Ed squatted down, pulling out his notebook. "What do we have?"

"Single 22 to the back of the head, fired I say from about 10 feet. Judging by how he fell, I'm guessing the shooter was standing over there..." She pointed to the alley next to the cafe. "...but I can't be sure."

"He must have waited until no one was watching, popped the guy, and ran," Lennie observed. "No one would have seen it coming."

"Well, we'll have to see if anyone saw anything," Ed said, his eyes scanning the small crowd of witnesses still sticking around. Some of the beat cops were in the process of questioning them. Somehow Ed doubted anyone would have any useful information. It was New York City in the middle of the day. Most of them were just concentrating on grabbing some lunch and then getting back to the bull pen.

"I have something else that's kind of interesting," the M.E. continued. Carefully she lifted one of the boy's arms where she had rolled the sleeve up.It was spotted with trackmarks.

"This one is fresh," she said, pointing. "I'd say no more than a couple hours."

"Well," Lennie said. "At least he died happy."

_**Ahh, how refreshing, a Lennie quip. Now this is the part where you mosey on down and review and then I love you forever.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**_I know what you're thinking. FINALLY!! Actually I would have no idea what you're thinking. I mean, 267 hits and I get _five _reviews? NOw that just makes me feel bad. However I decided to continue with this story because I like it and I like where I see it going. I hope you will too. _Attention:_ I have edited Chapter 2 slightly. It's not much, but it makes a bit of difference. You should reread it before you read this, anyone who's already read the first two chapters. That said, on we go._**

**_Disclzaimer: I don't own the Bohemians or Eddie Green. _**

"I've known you for five years! How could I not know you have a brother, who, _by the way,_ looks exactly like you!"

"He's uglier," was Collins response to Maureen's sputtered question. He bit into a vegetarian egg roll and used the other half to indicate the drama queen's head.

"Careful there. You know what happens when you get like this." They all knew. When Maureen got indignant, her hair got indignant too. She scowled at him and tried furiously to pat the curly mane down.

"Forget Maureen," Mark said. "I want to know how I have known you for _seven _years and _I _didn't know you had a brother." The rest of them nodded their heads in agreement and turned to look at Collins expectantly.

After they left the café the group had interrogated him the whole way to the Chinese place, with the exception of Angel who just shot her lover sympathetic looks. They sat now at one of the long tables, Collins doing his best to try and dodge their questions, resorting to commenting on the weather and trying to distract Maureen with questions about Antonio. He chose to try and play that card now.

"People, a man was just _shot_," he began earnestly, gesturing with a pair of chopsticks. "And not just any man, but one of us. Have some respect and recognize that my _half-_brother is not the big deal right now."

"But it is a big deal," Maureen protested impatiently, abandoning her hair and poking Collins accusing on the chest. "You have an estranged, half-_brother_ who lives in the same _city _and noneof us knew about it."

"No true," Angel spoke up quietly, "I knew about Eddie."

"You knew?!" Now it was Mimi's turn to be indignant. "You knew and you didn't tell me? I even told you about Roger's bear!"

"You told Angel about Bugsy?" Roger exclaimed. Everyone stopped eating and look at him.

"But never mind that," he stammered. Turning to Angel: "Why would Collins tell you and not us?"

She frowned in annoyance. "Mimi, this isn't the same thing. It isn't like I found Collin's _brother _stuffed under his bed. He told me about him in confidence." She turned to Roger. "And honey there are quite a few things Collins lets me, er, _in on, _that he doesn't share with you."

Collins beamed at her as the rest of them grimaced. God, he loved his Angel.

Bu the rest of them weren't ready to let it go by any means. They turned back to Collins, who sighed and shoveled in some rice. Maureen opened her mouth, but Joanne beat her to it.

"Collins, you got to see this from our point of view, or at the very least see it from theirs," She indicated Mark, Roger and Maureen – the three who had known Collins the longest. "We want to know you. I don't think I know _anything _about your family. Do you guys?"

"All we know is that he lived with his mom until he was 18 and left for college, and that she died in a car accident about four years ago," Mark said.

Collins eyes misted briefly and Mark, Roger and Maureen remembered how devastated he had been when he heard the news. None of them had known Mrs. Collins, she had lived in New Jersey, but they knew that she and her son had been close.

"Collins we just want to know about your brother," Mimi said gently, looking into his eyes. "This is a pretty big bombshell."

Collins met her eyes and then dropped his. "Guys, I just can't right now. Besides Angel and I have to get to our meeting." He started to stand up, abandoning the rest of his meal.

Maureen had had enough and she was done being diplomatic. "No. You aren't going until you tell us about your brother." She stood up and planted herself in front of him, arms crossed.

Collins smirked. "Maureen, you weigh half as much as I do and you run from bees."

She didn't miss a beat. "Fine. Go. But I'm coming with you and I'll be naked."

Collins blanched.

"She'll do it," Joanne told him. "That's why I don't stay late at the office anymore."

Collins looked at her. He let his eyes travel across the rest of the group. Mark and Mimi looked hurt, Roger seemed a little miffed and Maureen was just plain mad.

He turned to Angel. She gave him a look that clearly said, "You knew this would come out sooner or later."

Collins sighed. The group knew they had won. Maureen triumphantly sat down and motioned for him to do the same.

He sat. "Where to begin? Eddie and I share the same father. He was about four years old when I was born. His dad, our dad, had an affair with my mom, well not really an affair, more like a drunken one-night stand, and she got pregnant. She was only about 19 at the time. To make a long story short Ed's mom found out and left him. However she couldn't take care of Ed on her own and they both got part-time custody of him. Dad remarried about a year later."

"To your mom?" Roger asked.

"No, to someone else."

"He wouldn't marry your mom after he got her pregnant?" Mimi asked indignantly.

"Men!" Maureen added disgustedly.

Collins chuckled. "No, as a matter of fact. She wouldn't marry him. He hadn't told her he was married and she didn't want to marry a cheater. But regardless, she wanted me to have some kind of a relationship with him. Wanted me to have a father figure." He smiled sadly. "She was only 20 when I was born, but she made a great mom. Money was never really much of an issue; she was a good teacher and dear old Dad sent the obligatory check every month."

"So what about your brother?" Mark asked. Their half-eaten Chinese lay forgotten on the table and they were wrapped up in Collins' story. Every now and then the owner of the restaurant would direct a glare in their direction for taking up the table, but they hadn't been there long enough to kick them out yet.

"We were always more like cousins than brothers, even when we were young," Collins continued. "He went to private school, I went to public. Also, Dad did something with the military and the three of them would be stationed in Africa for months at a time. Still we were pretty close considering the circumstances."

"But you haven't seen him in 12 years?" Joanne asked.

"Yeah. He applied to the police academy when he was 18 and I was 14 and after that we just kind of lost touch. Obviously our lives don't cross paths much." He smiled, a little ruefully.

"And your dad?" This time it was Mark who asked the question.

Collins hesitated just a second before answering. "He still lives in Jersey. Our lives don't really cross paths much either."

There was a brief silence as the group tried to take in the flood of information they had just received about their long time friend. Meanwhile Angel shot Collins a discreet, but meaningful glance. He looked into her eyes; his carried a silent plea. She gave small nod and squeezed his hand under the table.

Only Joanne and Mark caught the silent exchange and decided for now not to comment. However they both noticed that the other had seen it and resolved to talk later, away from the others.

The manager finally decided enough was enough and asked them to leave. They piled the left-over food into take-out boxes and paid. Once outside Roger and Mimi started back to the loft, Mark, Maureen and Joanne were off to the performance space to start setting up for Maureen's show and Collins and Angel headed off to the Life Support meeting.

Angel waited until the others were out of earshot before turning to her lover.

"They're going to find out you lied to them, they found out about your brother," she said quietly. Her tone was sympathetic, not accusing.

"I didn't lie," Collins said, "I just didn't tell them the whole truth. I know they'll probably figure it out and I'll deal with it then. I just can't handle it right now, not before I talk to him."

"So you are going to meet him?" Angel asked, but she didn't sound surprised.

"He's my brother."

"I know. I can't wait to meet him." Collins beamed at his lover.

"I can't wait for him to meet you."

They stopped at a crosswalk and shared a small, sweet kiss. Then as they waited, Collins produced two fortune cookies from one of his large coat pockets. Unwrapping his, he bit into it and then pulled out the small strip of paper.

"_Your future is not determined by the events of your past, but by how you deal with them." _He read.

Collins rolled the paper into small ball and squinted ruefully up at the sky. "Okay God, I get it."

**_Next chapter will focus more on Eddie and the murder investigation. I really hope you are liking this as much as I am. You know what to do from here._**


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